• by Ray Schultz , November 2, 2022

Twilio Zipwhip -- the texting service acquired by Twilio only last year -- will be closed by the end of 2023.

But that closure was originally supposed to take place in December 2022. 

"Twilio’s vision is to build the world’s leading Customer Engagement Platform and provide businesses and developers with a powerful suite of messaging offerings," the company says in a statement provided to MediaPost.

November 30, 2023 will be the “final day of functionality for the Twilio Zipwhip software services,” says the “Twilio Zipwhip Software End of Life Resource Guide,” posted by the company earlier this month. “Last day that customers can send/receive messages and export data from their accounts such as messages/contacts/groups."

On the next day, December 1, “Twilio Zipwhip software services are permanently shutdown and taken offline.  User access is deactivated, and all functionality ceases.”

Twilio acquired Zipwhip for $850 million in cash and stock in 2021, and added it to the Twilio Messaging Business unit. 

“Messaging is becoming a preferred way for consumers to engage with brands, therefore it’s critical to provide multiple messaging options,” said Simon Khalaf, senior vice president and general manager of the Twilio Communications Platform, at the time. 

Zipwhip had 250 employees at that time. As part of the coming transition, "Zipwhip employees have been integrated into Twilio’s Messaging team," the company says. "Today, former Zipwhip employees in the Pacific Northwest region participate in Twilio’s Seattle Hub."

The company does not have a similar service to Twilio Zipwhip that is “out-of-the-box” ready so there is no migration path after the Zipwhip services shut down,” the company notes in an FAQ.

Twilio encourages clients to use its long-time  Podium, Voxie, or Text Request.

In addition, "Twilio offers products like Twilio Frontline, Twilio Flex and a host of SMS APIs that are robust enough to power the world’s most demanding applications, yet simple enough for any business to use," the company says. "With this acquisition, Twilio and Zipwhip have combined their messaging expertise across all channels to offer businesses of all sizes the most robust suite of messaging offerings."